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Post by Old Ironsights on Nov 28, 2007 11:59:12 GMT -5
I talked to a couple of guys on the trail yesterday as they were moving from wherever they were on stand. Fancy scent block camo. Fancy scoped Slug Guns. The works. Asked them how they did. One guy said he shot 3 on Monday but two excaped into the swamp. Now this may sound harsh, but... You hit a deer with a 12 ga slug and it doesn't fall down ?? I don't get it. What ever happened to Shot Placement... and if your gun can't place them consistantly at the ranges you are shooting, why are you using that gun (or shooting those ranges)? Arrgh. 3 shots with a .357 and 3 immediately down deer. 3 shots with a 12ga slug gun and 2 deer are lost to the swamp. What's wrong with this picture?  |
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Post by Woody Williams on Nov 28, 2007 12:02:58 GMT -5
I talked to a couple of guys on the trail yesterday as they were moving from wherever they were on stand. Fancy scent block camo. Fancy scoped Slug Guns. The works. Asked them how they did. One guy said he shot 3 on Monday but two excaped into the swamp. Now this may sound harsh, but... You hit a deer with a 12 ga slug and it doesn't fall down ?? I don't get it. What ever happened to Shot Placement... and if your gun can't place them consistantly at the ranges you are shooting, why are you using that gun (or shooting those ranges)? Arrgh. 3 shots with a .357 and 3 immediately down deer. 3 shots with a 12ga slug gun and 2 deer are lost to the swamp. What's wrong with this picture? It is the shooter(s), not the gun. As you well know, the .357 and the 12 ga are more than capable of dropping any deer- IF hit correctly.. |
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Post by hunter7x on Nov 28, 2007 12:07:08 GMT -5
shooter not the gun. Not every deer shot with a slug will fall immediately. Part of hunting is blood trailing.
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Post by cambygsp on Nov 28, 2007 12:17:07 GMT -5
There could be many factors at play here but I can assure you a 12 guage is capable of dropping a deer in it's tracks, I have dropped many.
With that said, on the Sunday of gun opening weekend I seen a HUGE 10 point deer checked in at the Gatesville Store. The deer was hit in boiler room big time, the fella that shot it said he tracked it for almost a half a mile.
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Post by oldhoyt on Nov 28, 2007 12:30:17 GMT -5
Your ponderings suggest that you share, somewhat at least, the common misbelief that a deer hit with a 12 ga. will promptly "fall down". I've shot a bunch of deer with a 12 Ga. Some fell at or very near the shot, and others ran a surprising distance. Shot placement was sometimes the cause, but sometimes not. I've had several lung-shot deer go further than I thought they should. Guess nobody told them that though.
The hunters you met are likely among those that believe that deer that go more than a short distance are not fatally hit, so they give up prematurely. The swamp only made it more convenient for them to give up.
The buck I shot on 11/17 ran over 150 yds. total, but luckily in a circle more or less. I saw where it ran from my stand, but I did lose sight of it once it entered a thicket near a ditch. After a half -hour I circled the thicket but did not see the deer. I went to the spot the deer was when I shot it, and there was no visible blood. I followed the tracks all the way to the thicket, no blood. I only had to go a few yards in the thicket before I saw the deer laying dead. There was only a small amount of blood near where he ended up.
I can see how a hunter with less experience could see his deer run straight into a swamp 100 yds away, and upon finding only a small amount of blood at the edge of the swamp, figure he only grazed the deer. The truth is, there's usually more blood sign there than we see, and most hunters are not very good at tracking wounded deer.
All hunters need to follow up on their shots by really spending some time at it, blood or not. After all tracking has failed, go to the grid method. If that fails, double check "likely" spots, like thickets, swamps, fallen tree-tops, ditches, creeks, etc.
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Post by danf on Nov 28, 2007 12:40:13 GMT -5
The BB that I hit in the stomach on Friday probably died closer to the shot than any other deer I've taken. I don't think it went 30 yards. I've had them run 100 (and a lot more) hit in the heart/lungs with both the shotgun and bow.
I want to know how you get a deer to "drop" in it's tracks. In 15 years of deer hunting, I've never had that happen. Of course, I aim for vitals, not a shoulder.....
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Post by hunter7x on Nov 28, 2007 12:45:03 GMT -5
I've had several drop in their tracks. Most of the time it's on purpose. I shoot them in the neck on draw hunts so not to let them run away to be blood trailed.
I've had a few hit else where that dropped also. Both with 12 guage and ML.
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Post by Adam Brown (BGGoosekiller) on Nov 28, 2007 13:27:19 GMT -5
Not everyone tries for spine shots OIS!  |
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Post by Woody Williams on Nov 28, 2007 13:48:41 GMT -5
Your ponderings suggest that you share, somewhat at least, the common misbelief that a deer hit with a 12 ga. will promptly "fall down". I've shot a bunch of deer with a 12 Ga. Some fell at or very near the shot, and others ran a surprising distance. Shot placement was sometimes the cause, but sometimes not. I've had several lung-shot deer go further than I thought they should. Guess nobody told them that though. The hunters you met are likely among those that believe that deer that go more than a short distance are not fatally hit, so they give up prematurely. The swamp only made it more convenient for them to give up. The buck I shot on 11/17 ran over 150 yds. total, but luckily in a circle more or less. I saw where it ran from my stand, but I did lose sight of it once it entered a thicket near a ditch. After a half -hour I circled the thicket but did not see the deer. I went to the spot the deer was when I shot it, and there was no visible blood. I followed the tracks all the way to the thicket, no blood. I only had to go a few yards in the thicket before I saw the deer laying dead. There was only a small amount of blood near where he ended up. I can see how a hunter with less experience could see his deer run straight into a swamp 100 yds away, and upon finding only a small amount of blood at the edge of the swamp, figure he only grazed the deer. The truth is, there's usually more blood sign there than we see, and most hunters are not very good at tracking wounded deer. All hunters need to follow up on their shots by really spending some time at it, blood or not. After all tracking has failed, go to the grid method. If that fails, double check "likely" spots, like thickets, swamps, fallen tree-tops, ditches, creeks, etc.
Well put, sir.. |
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Post by duff on Nov 28, 2007 14:01:54 GMT -5
Only ones I have had drop are shot in the neck, shoulder or spine. Shots in the boiler have been 20-150 yrds.
With the stories I have been hearing this year, I think I will be getting a PCR in the next year or two. Either a 44Mag or 357 or both!!! Sounds like a good rifle and range for Indiana.
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Post by Old Ironsights on Nov 28, 2007 14:49:57 GMT -5
Not everyone tries for spine shots OIS! Don't get uptight. They (forward spine/neck shots) are not my first choice either, but you take what's been given. Better a clean Neck/forward spine shot than an attempt at the heart/lungs through thick brush. But, FWIW, I didn't shoot the Buck in the spine, and it only hit the shoulder because it was in full "bound away" mode. It just puzzles me though to read about any animal running farther than can be retrieved after a well placed bullet. Certainly after a well placed 1oz hunk of lead. I know it happens. I know it happens regularly. It will undoubtedly happen to me someday. But it still puzzles me. |
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Post by Harley on Nov 28, 2007 14:55:28 GMT -5
You know, the neck shot is my favorite place to shoot a deer - I like having them drop at the exact spot I shoot them.
What is it about a neck shot that makes them drop so fast? - I mean when I killed my big bruiser it was from a neck shot that did not even hit bone but yet he dropped dead in mid-step.
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Post by dbd870 on Nov 28, 2007 15:29:29 GMT -5
My friend in KY has stopped using anything but a shoulder shot; he says they don't go far that way. Using a 7mag doesn't hurt either.
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Post by Old Ironsights on Nov 28, 2007 16:03:54 GMT -5
What is it about a neck shot that makes them drop so fast? - I mean when I killed my big bruiser it was from a neck shot that did not even hit bone but yet he dropped dead in mid-step. Whiplash/basal skull fracture. The hydrostatic forces literally pull the spineal cord out of the base of the brain for an instant, severing all communication between the brain & body. Causes all sorts of nasty things to happen. |
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Post by jajwrigh on Nov 28, 2007 18:14:46 GMT -5
I dropped a doe last year in her tracks with my bow. The spine shot was the key, so I am a firm believer in shot placement, regardless of weapon.
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Post by deerman on Nov 28, 2007 20:04:01 GMT -5
Ive always like the neck or shoulder shots with a 12 ga. They almost always drop in their tracks.
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Post by parson on Nov 29, 2007 8:40:33 GMT -5
The place that I have hunted for the last few years is at the edge of what seems like the grand canyon. So, I want to drop them in their tracks. Shots are always fairly close range, so I go for neck shots. They always fall down. I will use a finishing shot if there is movement.
parson
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Post by mbogo on Nov 30, 2007 19:03:59 GMT -5
The high shoulder shot will drop a deer in its tracks also and that would be my choice to put one down immediately. If placed properly with a good bullet, it should take out the shoulders, the lungs, and damage the spine.
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Post by snakeeye on Dec 2, 2007 18:35:17 GMT -5
Got a BB with my 1894 in the last 15 minutes of my firearms season, thought it was a doe. It was a bad shot, so the verdict is still out with respect to the killing power of my gun and load, will practice more in '08.
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Post by oldhoyt on Dec 3, 2007 12:17:01 GMT -5
I shot a doe this past weekend with a 12 ga. sabot, the same gun and ammo I shot my buck with 2 weeks ago. I aimed for the shoulder to drop the deer at 50 yds, and the slug hit about a foot to the right, still in front of the diaphram but not by much. The deer loped about 25 - 30 yds and stopped. I could see the entry wound from my stand, but the deer didn't really act hit. I shot again because I wanted to anchor this deer before it could leave the small property I was hunting. Because of the angle, I aimed just behind the soulder. That shot also hit way to the right, causing a gut shot. The deer took a few steps and went down. Somehow my scope had been knocked off its zero, as both shots were from a very steady rest. Need to resolve that issue before next season for sure.
I know this gun and load has plenty of "killing power", but the moral of the story is, if you don't put the bullet where it should go, it doesn't matter what you hit them with.
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